The mystery’s cool

mystery school

Many indigenous cultures globally have their own sweat lodge ceremonies which are intended to invoke transcendent states and I have been invited to facilitate one in ‘The Sanctuary’s’ beautiful  contrast therapy space in the trendy heart of London’s East End

I won’t be consciously taking inspiration from native Indian traditions for this event

because there are other cultures I feel more connected to. For this project, I will be leaning into the European aspect of my dual heritage and diving into  Greek mysticism to reimagine the mythical Eleusinian mysteries

The  Eleusinian mysteries were a secret set of rites, held in ancient Greece to honour the cult of the triple goddess: Hecate, Demeter and Persephone and the stories connected to them. The rites themselves were a secret affair, known only to initiates, but their mythos has inspired writers as diverse as Marcus Aurelius, Shakespeare and Ellie Goulding  and many others across the millennia  and now they’re inspiring me too.

So how does this relate to tantra?

Aside from the fact that all spiritual traditions form part of Indra’s web, an intersectional network of global spiritual traditions, The Eleusinian Mysteries were attended by Stoics like Marcus Aurelius and written about by logicians like Aristotle and Plato, who saw them as being as important as the embryonic materialistic philosophies they fathered….

Materialist philosophies which have gone on to become the predominant way by which we are encouraged to understand the world.

I’ve noticed occasionally when clients attend a tantric massage,  their grounding in logic and rationalism blocks their enjoyment of the massage.

They refuse to have an authentic tantric experience and open themselves to full-bodied bliss because they feel they are being disloyal to their masculine, logical, stoic worldview.

They refuse to switch off their rational and analytical mind and just feel and be.

If this is you…  and you hold these thinkers in high esteem, remember these guys were completely open to and celebrated other narratives at play in the world.

The Mystery narratives.  The transcendent experiences. The experiences that existed beyond the reach of the schools of logic and Stoic thought they founded.

Plato, Aristotle and Marcus Aurelius held these spiritual experiences in high regard and as equal to those understood through logic.

So when attending a session, arrive with the open mind of an ancient Stoic and you will grant yourself access to the world of tantric bliss they experienced too.

And if you have an issue doing this I can offer techniques to help.